Charlie Green is the Deputy Head of Education & Training at Suffolk Mind and is a qualified psychotherapist who is passionate about her work, her community, Suffolk, and the people in her life. Along with a skilled team, Charlie develops and delivers The Mental Health Toolkit which is a suite of courses, workshops and 121 support, which aims to help Suffolk be the best place in the world to talk about and take care of mental health. Charlie’s interest in the menopause is both personal and community wide. She understands the importance of having knowledge, support and skills to be able to navigate this transition.
Charlie spoke to seven of her friends (aged 46-53) and asked them key questions about their experience with the menopause, with the intention of sharing their stories to hopefully be of help to others who might relate.
More blogs by Charlie:
- When did you discover you were perimenopausal and what unexpected symptoms did you have?
- What has been the greatest help for your health and wellbeing during the menopause, and what tips can you recommend to others?
- The positives and negatives of the menopause
With a total of 108 years of bleeding between our group of close friends, you would think we would have known what to expect from the menopause… but that wasn’t the case for each of us at first!
Despite all that experience of menstruation, all the trust and openness of long and supportive friendships, the menopause – or should I say perimenopause – came as a surprise for many of us. Initially we withdrew, walked the road alone, confused and often anxious, unclear about why we were suddenly finding life so tough and disconnected from things we previously took pleasure in.
But once one of us expanded their knowledge and started to share their experiences, we began to spot the symptoms in ourselves and in each other and we got better at reaching out and helping each other which began to make everything easier. We hope you take some comfort, find some inspiration or feel more connected by reading our words.
Please consult with you GP if you have any questions about medical treatments for menopause, as each of these answers is a personal experience and everyone is individual. These answers are here to show the variety of experiences, rather than to provide advice.
Are you taking any hormone replacement therapy to address the symptoms? Are you happy to share what you currently take? How is it working for you?
- “I am not taking HRT. I have started biking before work and at weekends. It has made a big difference in my weight and strength, as well as my physical and mental health. The one symptom I really struggle with is the hot flushes at night. But I don’t know how my symptoms would be if I wasn’t as committed to the lifestyle choices.”
- “I have the Minerva coil fitted for the progesterone and I take 3 pumps of Oestragel per day in the evening. I have found this has really helped. My joints are not painful anymore, my eyes are soothed which is so lovely. I tend not to get brain fog so much, although do occasionally. I increased my dose from 2 to 3 pumps at the beginning of the year as I had some symptoms return.”
- “I take Evorel (oestragon) and Utrogestan (progesterone). It’s early days for me and I am on the lowest dose, but I feel they are benefitting me so far.”
- “My symptoms are not too significant right now and I can manage them, so I run, eat well and make sure I do things I love. And I am always in bed by 9.30pm during the week. Sleep is key for me.”
- “I have the pill injection (with progesterone), daily progesterone capsules with no break and 4 pumps of oestrogen gel daily. I increased over time from 2 to 4 pumps with advice from the women’s health nurse. I feel ‘me’ again on my current dosage – all the symptoms have settled back down. The only thing left is that I feel a bit hotter than usual all the time and can’t remember some words.”
- “I have Utrogestan 100 (progesterone) and Oestrogen gel. Within 2 weeks I started to see the beauty again on my nature walks. I felt calmer and all symptoms dramatically reduced or left all together.”
- “I know HRT is not right for everyone and it is only one of the options, but for me it was incredibly positive. I can’t rely solely on replacing and balancing my hormones through HRT though. I have to keep focused on getting enough good quality sleep and eating well – poor sleep, alcohol and a high sugar intake bring on some of the symptoms again.”
- “I started to take HRT but it didn’t work for me – I felt worse – so I stopped. I am now using food, sleep and movement to manage my symptoms and take lots of breaks. I have to avoid alcohol as it spikes my hot flushes.”
- “I was really nervous to take HRT due to my family history, so I was really pleased to have a specialist nurse at our local surgery who could answer all my questions and give me links to research and information so I could inform myself and make the right decision for me.”
- “I had to try a number of different combinations of HRT before I found what worked, and the symptoms got worse before they got better. But now, 16 months on, I am enjoying life again. I had been worried I was going to have to give up work as my brain was not functioning like it used to.”
- “I use a combined HRT patch which is working well now I am in a routine with them. Getting rid of the glue from the patches is literally a pain in the arse!”
Thank you for taking the time to read our stories, and we hope it has been helpful for you. We encourage you to share it around – let your partners, children, managers and others in your life read it. By sharing stories from real life, we can all help others on their journey through (peri)menopause and also help those around them to offer support with deeper understanding and compassion.
This is a natural stage of life and the more we know, the easier we all travel through it.
Needing support? Sign up to Menopause & Me through Suffolk Libraries or Suffolk Mind. We’re here to help everyone.
